10 must-watch documentaries for rainy autumn days and why I loved each one

plus 8 more from my never-ending watchlist... 🖤

a completely unrelated but cute photo of Peggy looking like she’s been generated by AI

If storytelling is part of what makes us human then hearing one another’s stories is part of what creates a community. It’s breaks down barriers to witness people telling their own stories since it gives us such an intimate window into their experiences and can even help to replace fear with empathy, to unite instead of divide. For all these reasons and more I watch several documentaries every month and never seem to make my watchlist any shorter.

I don’t have a favourite genre as such, I’ll watch nearly anything that documents an interesting life or a historical moment. There are just so many lives, histories, and worlds that I’m curious about, and documentary gives us such a special insight into them, that I never tire of learning. Maybe I’m just nosy… Having said that, there are some shows that I don’t choose: I do watch true crime docs but if survivors or their families are uncomfortable with how these men - and they usually are men - who kill women - and it usually is women - are portrayed then I tend to give it a miss. Similarly, I watched Pamela: A Love Story but didn’t watch Pam and Tommy because that story was hers to tell and no one else’s - I’m sure the performances were great and the film is likely very well made it’s just not for me.

I also tend to prefer stories about women or that centre the experiences of women since our perspectives has so often been left out of historical and cultural records. Telling our own stories and sharing the stories of others that have been left untold is so important that I don’t think it can be overstated. Stories that share not only the pain but the joy, complexity and nuance of the lives of women is something I will never tire of watching (or reading or making).

One final note: “enjoy” or “love” are probably the wrong words for watching some of these stories - some left me incredulous, some enraged, some inspired, and others uplifted. All of them made me think in a way that only documentaries can. I hope you find a new story or two here that does the same for you and, ultimately, that you are moved to share more stories of your own as a result.

Okay, in no particular order, here we go…

1. White Riot

I loved everything about this documentary: the interviews, the archive footage, the editing style, the music. All of it. The title is also the name of a song by The Clash released in 1977 which called for unity and resistance in the face of racial tension and social injustice. It’s the story of how the Rock Against Racism movement was started amidst a climate of race riots and right wing ideologies gaining public support in 1970s Britain. What’s infuriating about it is that so much of the footage could have been shot this year when shudderingly similar scenes once again took place and intolerance turned into outright violence. What left me feeling inspired and uplifted, though, was the community created in opposition to that narrative of division, fear and hatred - that energy and that spirit that shouts the stories of the oppressed and wants to smash unfair systems to the ground is intoxicating. See it immediately and then dance wildly around your kitchen to the soundtrack. I did.

2. Black Twitter: A People’s History

I watched all three episodes of this docuseries in one sitting earlier this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. It serves, in part, as a way to preserve the conversations, comedy and cultural force of the black community on Twitter at a time when the platform might disappear into the void at any moment at the whims of a megalomaniac. The significance and impact of black people’s contribution to all fields including social change has, as we surely know by now, been continually underestimated, sidelined and silenced. This documentary is another step to right the balance of that storytelling and acknowledging a cultural movement that went from online to the real world and back again. It’s frequently hilarious and there are many, many memes, GIFs, and memorable threads, alongside serious and contemplative moments. Again, I loved the editing and the sets for the interviews are great too - details like that make it all the richer to watch.

3. Chef’s Table

I was introduced to this now long-running series by my fiancé when we first met - he’s a chef so it was very on brand viewing. We’d watch episodes of it together (our favourite and most re-watched being Season 1, Episode 1 on Italian chef Massimo Bottura) and talk about the food, the stories, the restaurants, and daydream about visiting them. Happily there is growing diversity in the chefs represented and the types of cuisine featured: recent limited series have been dedicated to pizza, BBQ, and pastry. There’s art to this food and the storytelling in the cinematography and the interviews is beautiful to watch. The latest instalment is Noodles but any of the episodes are worth a look if you enjoy the stories behind the dishes and, more importantly, the stories behind the chefs who make them.

4. Still: A Michael J Fox Movie

When people are given the chance to tell their own stories and take control of their narratives, particularly when there is a level of mythology around them, their lives, and their work, the results can be compelling. Both Still: A Michael J Fox Movie and Pamela: A Love Story fall into this category for me. In Still Michael J Fox traces his ongoing journey with Parkinson’s while also delving into his fast-paced, media frenzy of a carer in the 80s and 90s and the determined spirit he has for working, entertaining, and showing up in the face of challenges. As he says himself: “I’m not pathetic. I’ve got shit going on. I’m a tough son of a bitch.” It definitely seems so.

5. Pamela: A Love Story

In Pamela: A Love Story, Pamela Anderson shares her story about the sex tape she made privately with her then-husband Tommy Lee which was then stolen and widely distributed. It’s particularly interesting to hear her talk about the way the sexualisation of her image was used as a way to simultaneously praise her, objectify her, promote her, and then undermine her as being nothing but a pretty face with no morals. Ultimately she was told that since she voluntarily posed nude in magazines she should have no problem with the footage being made public - maddening, right?There are moments where it would have been interesting to hear the interviewers challenge or delve deeper into her comments about Julian Assange or the #MeToo movement which were quite surprising but, either way, it’s a fascinating insight into her perspective and the way a woman’s body can be used to silence her voice.

6. Light & Magic

I’ve been Star Wars obsessed ever since I watched Princess Leia call Chewie a “walking carpet”. This documentary is so good that I told my Dad he needed to get Disney Plus just to watch it (he did, no regrets reported). It tells the story of Industrial Lights & Magic, the company George Lucas founded to produce the special FX for the original Star Wars trilogy in the 1970s. Equipment and budget were extremely limited but ingenuity (and beer) overflowed and the team produced iconic moments again and again despite being forever behind schedule until the very last moment. Later episodes cover the introduction of a computer division, the addition of CGI (including how the creation of Photoshop was inspired by Pixar) and carries on all the way to the present day when digital effects are now often impossible to distinguish from reality.

7. Feminists: What Were They Thinking?

Revisiting an collection of photographs taken of women in the 1970s, this documentary focuses on how the feminist movement felt at that time, how things have changed for the women captured, and how young feminist feel about the progress we’ve made for women. The topics discussed are, as you’d expect, varied and passionately told ranging from abortion, identity, motherhood, and shedding societal expectations. While issues of race and inter-sectionalism are touched on the frustration felt by the women of colour included is not tackled as fully as it could have been which underlines the need for the feminist movement now to be truly inclusive.

8. Our Father

Both of the following docuseries are shocking stories of exactly how much men can get away and how deeply their secrets can be buried for decades to come. Our Father focuses on a fertility doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate women at his clinic which, for reasons that make absolutely no sense, was apparently technically not a crime despite the lack of consent and outrageous violation. His crimes were discovered when the secret siblings connected and began to investigate the apparently impossible DNA connections between them.

9. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey

Instead of a medical context this series focuses on the power wielded by men in a religious setting by investigating a leading figure in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The shocking abuses he subjected women and girls to are truly harrowing and the bravery of the survivors in sharing their stories is a powerful reminder of the dangers posed by religious extremism.

10. Disclosure

In this eye-opening documentary, the participants reflect on representations of trans men and women in TV and film and how this has impacted on the trans community and our cultural understanding of trans people. What I found most powerful about the way these stories are shared is the delicate balance between moments of visceral pain and moments of hope and joy as things gradually begin to change in terms of visibility, storytelling and opportunities. Seeing trans people thrive is a reminder to all of us to live our lives as authentically as possible as well as showing a wider audience the incredible resilience, beauty, and creativity of the trans community.

Here are 8 more on my watchlist for this autumn:

Since I haven’t watched these films yet, I’ve included the brief synopsis from the sites where you can watch them - each one is linked if you tap the title of the film.

1. I Am Not Your Negro

Told entirely in the words of James Baldwin, through both personal appearances and the text of his final unfinished book project, I Am Not Your Negro touches on the lives and assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers to bring powerful clarity to how the image and reality of Blacks in America today is fabricated and enforced.

2. Writing With Fire

In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, a group of women set up India’s only newspaper run entirely by women. Led by women from the lowest caste, Dalit, they are expected to fail, but instead they stir a revolution. This Oscar-nominated film follows chief reporter Meera and her team of journalists as they break with tradition to work on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues.

3. Summer of Soul

In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary - part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion.

4. Will & Harper

When Will Ferrell’s good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.

5. For Sama

An epic and intimate journey filmed through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria. Waad al-Kateab tells the story of how she fell in love, married and gave birth to her daughter Sama.

6. The Booksellers

Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play an underappreciated yet essential role in preserving history. The Booksellers takes viewers inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.

7. Paris is Burning

New York City, 1980. In Harlem’s African American and Latinx drag-ball scene, rival houses compete in fierce contests for trophies. Meanwhile, legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women—including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, and Venus Xtravaganza—reveal the rules and traditions of the scene.

8. What Happened, Miss Simone?

Using never-before-seen recordings, rare archival footage and her best-known songs, this is the story of legendary singer and activist Nina Simone.

Now the best bit: let’s talk all about this list in the comments!

Let me know what you thought of any here that you’ve seen, share more with me that I should add to my never-ending list, or tell me what you like most about documentaries in general…

I want to know all of it.